[unable to retrieve full-text content]This week, Ozy co-founder Carlos Watson tells NPR's Arun Rath about the latest trend in Uruguay's YouTube scene and one young woman who gained a following with her love of science.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/NprProgramsATC/~3/mosWfkvep80/the-new-and-the-next-six-second-comedy-and-a-spin-on-news
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Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Report: NSA collecting millions of contact lists
WASHINGTON (AP) — The National Security Agency has been sifting through millions of contact lists from personal email and instant messaging accounts around the world — including those of Americans — in its effort to find possible links to terrorism or other criminal activity, according to a published report.
The Washington Post reported late Monday that the spy agency intercepts hundreds of thousands of email address books every day from private accounts on Yahoo, Gmail, Facebook and Hotmail that move though global data links. The NSA also collects about a half million buddy lists from live chat services and email accounts.
The Post said it learned about the collection tactics from secret documents provided by NSA leaker Edward Snowden and confirmed by senior intelligence officials. It was the latest revelation of the spy agency's practices to be disclosed by Snowden, the former NSA systems analyst who fled the U.S. and now resides in Russia.
The newspaper said the NSA analyzes the contacts to map relationships and connections among various foreign intelligence targets. During a typical day last year, the NSA's Special Source Operations branch collected more than 440,000 email address books, the Post said. That would correspond to a rate of more than 250 million a year.
A spokesman for the national intelligence director's office, which oversees the NSA, told the Post that the agency was seeking intelligence on valid targets and was not interested in personal information from ordinary Americans.
Spokesman Shawn Turner said the NSA was guided by rules that require the agency to "minimize the acquisition, use and dissemination" of information that identifies U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
While the collection was taking place overseas, the Post said it encompassed the contact lists of many American users. The spy agency obtains the contact lists through secret arrangements with foreign telecommunications companies or other services that control Internet traffic, the Post reported.
Earlier this year, Snowden gave documents to the Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper disclosing U.S. surveillance programs that collect vast amounts of phone records and online data in the name of foreign intelligence, often sweeping up information on American citizens.
The collection of contact lists in bulk would be illegal if done in the United States, but the Post said the agency can get around that restriction by intercepting lists from access points around the world.
The newspaper quoted a senior intelligence official as saying NSA analysts may not search or distribute information from the contacts database unless they can "make the case that something in there is a valid foreign intelligence target in and of itself."
Associated PressSource: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2013-10-14-NSA%20Surveillance/id-aa59142af1db4e959c090cf764044555Related Topics: Dallas Latos backstreet boys BBC
Monday, October 14, 2013
China inflation at 7-month high, limits room for easing despite export tumble
By Kevin Yao and Xiaoyi Shao
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's annual consumer inflation rate rose to a seven-month high of 3.1 percent in September as poor weather drove up food prices, limiting the scope for the central bank to maneuver to support the economy even as exports showed a surprise decline.
But few analysts expect a further sharp rise in inflation or policy tightening in coming months as the world's second-largest economy still faces a weak global environment and Beijing tries to tap the brake on credit-fuelled investment.
The inflation rate was higher than a median forecast of 2.9 percent in a Reuters poll and August's 2.6 percent, but was still below the official target of 3.5 percent for 2013.
"We expect CPI inflation to rise further in Q4 and see rising risks that it may rise above 3.5 percent for some months in 2014," said Zhiwei Zhang, China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong.
"The rise of CPI inflation leaves little room for policy easing as the benchmark deposit rate is only 3 percent."
Upbeat September credit data released later on Monday signaled that the central bank may have already eased up its control on bank lending following a liquidity crunch in June, which analysts warn could fan property bubbles and long-term inflation risks.
Month-on-month, consumer prices rose 0.8 percent, the National Bureau of Statistics said, bigger than a rise of 0.5 percent expected by economists.
Food prices gained 1.5 percent in September from August due to droughts and floods in some areas, pushing up the CPI by 0.51 percentage points, Yu Qiumei, a senior statistician at the bureau, said in a statement.
In annual terms, food prices jumped 6.1 percent.
"September CPI inflation gained more momentum on seasonal factors and a low base effect from last year," said Li Huiyong, an economist at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities in Shanghai.
"But we think the inflation situation is still under well control and will not be a concern this year, especially when the economy is struggling with over-capacity problems."
China's exports dropped 0.3 percent in September from a year earlier, against expectations of a 6 percent rise, data showed on Saturday, a disappointing break to a recent run of indicators that had signaled the economy may be regaining momentum. ID:nL4N0I202X]
The decline in exports also raised questions about the strength of the global economic recovery, though solid import data for the same month helped offset some concerns.
FACTORY-GATE DEFLATION EASES
Factory-gate deflation eased further in September, although in annual terms prices still recorded a 19th consecutive fall, highlighting the pressures facing Chinese companies.
Producer prices fell 1.3 percent from a year earlier, a smaller fall than the 1.4 percent expected by the market and the 1.6 percent drop in August.
However, there was some relief to manufacturers struggling to cope with profit-eating price declines, as producer prices rose 0.2 percent from August.
After slowing in nine of the past 10 quarters, the economy looks to have stabilized since mid-year after Beijing acted to head off a sharper downturn with increased spending on public housing construction, railways and tax cuts for smaller firms.
Chinese banks made 787 billion yuan ($128.6 billion) worth of new yuan loans in September, higher than a forecast of 650 billion yuan and more than the previous month's 711.3 billion yuan.
Total social financing (TSF), a broad measure of liquidity in the economy, was at 1.4 trillion yuan in September versus August's 1.57 trillion yuan - which nearly doubled from July's level.
"The September new yuan loan figures were much higher than market expectations, indicating that the central bank has kept liquidity conditions relatively loose to bolster the economic recovery," said Li at Shenyin & Wanguo.
Beijing wants to keep the economy on an even keel in the run-up to a top-level government meeting on economic reforms in November, analysts said.
Annual economic growth is forecast to have accelerated to 7.8 percent in the third quarter from 7.5 percent in the second quarter, but the recovery could fizzle towards the year-end, a Reuters poll showed.
Third-quarter GDP growth data, along with industrial output, fixed-asset investment and retail sales, is due on Friday.
Beijing has a growth target of 7.5 percent for 2013, which would be the weakest rate in more than 20 years, and has repeatedly said it would accept slower growth as it tries to wean the economy off dependence on investment and exports in favor of domestic consumption.
"The economy faces some downward pressures, especially by looking at the export data. Full-year GDP growth could be 7.6 percent," said Zhou Hao, China economist at ANZ in Shanghai.
(China Economics Team; Editing by John Mair & Kim Coghill)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/china-inflation-7-month-high-limits-room-easing-045832601--business.html
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Friday, October 11, 2013
Who Are Europe's Ron Conways? - At Disrupt Europe We'll Find Out
During the TechCrunch Disrupt Europe conference in Berlin later this month we'll see some of Europe's key players come together to discuss the state of technology startups and investing. One thing you can be sure of with Disrupt - something which uniquely sets it apart from other conferences - is that people come there to make news and rub shoulders with the key players who make decisions about what companies really get backed in this ecosystem. If in Silicon Valley seed stage investors like Ron Conway of SV Angels are considered to be the 'early signallers' about what is hot in that ecosystem, then the same can be said of that set of individuals who fulfill that signalling role. These are the people who are so incredibly well connected that, if you can get to them and convince them about your capability as an entrepreneur and as a startup, then their involvement is worth ten times the mere amount of money they might invest. Of course it's not just Conway - it's as much people like Dave McClure, Michael Arrington or Chris Sacca.Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/saNhmZ3_mJE/Similar Articles: gravity Ray Rice Lee Thompson Young FOX Sports 1 Guardians of the Galaxy
Thursday, August 1, 2013
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'American Idol' Winner Kris Allen Is a Daddy!
The singer's wife has given birth to a baby boy! Plus, see more stars who welcomed new bundles of joy.
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U.S. economy finds momentum in second quarter, eyes further gains
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. economic growth unexpectedly accelerated in the second quarter, laying a firmer foundation for the rest of the year that could bring the Federal Reserve a step closer to cutting back its monetary stimulus.
Gross domestic product grew at a 1.7 percent annual rate, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday, stepping up from the first quarter's downwardly revised 1.1 percent expansion pace.
The economic picture was further brightened by the ADP National Employment Report, which showed private employers added 200,000 jobs in July, maintaining June's pace. It offered hope the government's comprehensive employment report on Friday could show a recent run of fairly strong job gains extended to July.
"The economy is improving and the ADP report is emblematic of a pattern of growth that will continue to tilt to the upside," said Eric Green, chief economist at TD Securities in New York. "That is enough for the Fed to taper in September."
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the economy growing at a 1.0 percent pace after a previously reported 1.8 percent advance in the first three months of the year.
The surprisingly better GDP report buoyed U.S. stocks and lifted the dollar against a basket of currencies. Investors sold U.S. Treasury debt, with the price on the 30-year government bond falling a full point at one stage.
Rebounds in business spending and export growth, and a sharp moderation in the pace of decline in government outlays boosted economic growth in the April-June period, offsetting cooler consumer spending and a steady rate of inventory accumulation.
Still, the report marked a third straight quarter of GDP growth below 2 percent, a pace that normally would be too soft to bring down unemployment. But growth was poised to gain even more momentum in the second half of the year as the fiscal burden brought on by belt-tightening in Washington eases.
Federal Reserve officials, wrestling with a decision on the future of their $85 billion per month bond-buying program, will likely draw comfort from the pick-up in output last quarter. They wind up a two-day meeting later on Wednesday.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said last month that the central bank would probably start curtailing the bond purchases later this year with an eye toward bringing them to a complete halt by the middle of 2014, if the economy progressed as expected.
REVISIONS GIVE ECONOMY A GLOW
Revisions to earlier GDP data released along with the report on Wednesday cast the economy in a better light than previously, and contributed to the report's solid tenor.
The government implemented a number of changes in how it calculates GDP. For example, research and development spending will now be treated as investment, and defined benefit pension plans will be measured on an accrual basis, rather than as cash.
The revisions showed the economy grew 2.8 percent last year, 0.6 percentage point faster than previously estimated.
They also yielded a higher rate of savings, a good omen for future consumer spending.
Still, higher taxes, as Washington tries to shrink the government's budget deficit, constrained consumer spending in the second quarter. Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, slowed to a 1.8 percent growth pace after rising at a 2.3 percent rate in the first quarter.
The slow pace of consumption kept a lid on inflation pressures, with a price index in the report holding steady in the second quarter. Excluding food and energy, prices rose at a subdued 0.8 percent pace. Both measures were the weakest since the first quarter of 2009.
Tepid domestic demand also led businesses to keep close watch on their inventories. Inventory accumulation added 0.41 percentage point to growth, less than half its contribution in the prior quarter.
But higher savings and a firming labor market should help to spur consumer spending and encourage businesses to continue a steady pace of restocking.
"We remain confident that the economy will expand much faster in the second half of the year as the drag from fiscal tightening continues to fade," said Harm Bandholz, chief U.S. economist at UniCredit Research in New York.
"The most important support factor will remain the improving labor market, which already in the past has allowed consumer spending to weather most of the fiscal drag."
Private employers added 200,000 jobs in July after hiring 198,000 in June, the ADP report showed. The figure was in line with the pace of job growth seen since the start of the year.
Exports rebounded in the second quarter, showing the largest percentage gain since the third quarter of 2011, even as demand weakened in Europe and China.
But the increase was insufficient to offset strong import growth, leaving a trade deficit that weighed on GDP.
There was good news from the housing sector, with spending on residential construction rising at a double-digit rate. Housing, which triggered the 2007-09 recession, is growing strongly, helping to keep the economic recovery anchored.
However, a rise in mortgage rates on the back of growing expectations of a reduction in the Fed's bond purchases has cooled the appetite of some potential buyers.
Business spending reversed the prior quarter's decline, and while government spending contracted for a third straight quarter, the pace of the decline slowed sharply as state and local government spending rebounded.
(Reporting by Lucia Mutikani,; Additional reporting by Leah Schnurr in New York; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/u-economy-likely-lost-step-second-expected-regain-050834234.html
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